Orthodox customs and traditions.

The Slavic word "rite" in itself means "attire", "clothing" (you can recall, for example, the verb "dress up"). Beauty, solemnity, variety of church rituals attract many people. But Orthodox, in the words of the saint, does not occupy anyone and does not engage in idle spectacles. Visible actions have an invisible, but completely real and effective content. The Church believes (and this belief has been confirmed by two thousand years of experience) that all the rites she performs have a certain sanctifying, that is, beneficial, renewing and strengthening effect on a person. This is an act of God's grace.

Conventionally, all rituals are divided into three types:

1. liturgical rites - sacraments performed during church services: anointing with oil, the great blessing of water, the removal of the holy shroud on Good Friday, and so on. These rites are part of the temple, liturgical life of the Church.

2. Rites are symbolic express the various religious ideas of the Church. These, for example, include the sign of the cross, which we repeatedly perform in remembrance of the sufferings of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and which, at the same time, is a real protection of a person from the influence of evil demonic forces and temptations on him.

3. Rites that sanctify the everyday needs of Christians : commemoration of the dead, consecration of dwellings, products, things and various good undertakings: study, fasting, travel, construction, and the like.

Why are there so many rites in the Church? Is it really impossible to serve God simply, without superfluous visible actions?

In general, human thinking is in itself associated with certain signs and symbols as ways of external expression. For example, a word is a thought expressed through sound, and many of our gestures are an expression of our emotions or our mood. Moreover, when it comes to the truths of the spiritual world, they can be expressed in our world only through symbolic actions - rituals. For example, the addition of three fingers is the confession of the one God of the Trinity, and the sign of the cross over oneself is the confession of the Cross Sacrifice of Christ, thanks to which the devil and sin are defeated.

Each church rite elevates us above the ordinary and helps us to get in touch with what is above earthly feelings and dimensions. So, a lit candle symbolizes our prayer burning before God and the light of true faith, illuminating the twilight of the world. How wonderful it is to pray in the evening by the fire of a candle or lamp! Sprinkling one's dwelling with holy water is its communion with the shrine of the Church, it is known how after that everything is pacified in houses subject to the action of evil spirits.

The abundance of church rituals testifies to the richness of the spiritual and symbolic life of the Church. Visible liturgical actions and objects of church life contain deep grace-filled symbols, as an expression of what is spiritually performed in particular, the burning of the temple and praying people with holy incense symbolizes the abundance of the grace of the Holy Spirit who lives in the temple and overshadows those who pray. And the anointing of believers with holy oil during the All-Night Vigil means a heavenly blessing given at the service.

Nothing in worship is accidental - neither the hymnography nor the visible actions. After all, a person is characterized by a desire for creativity, and therefore he expresses his religious feelings and thoughts in prayers and chants. And since, in addition to the soul, we have a body (which needs much less justification than the existence of the soul), we express our religious feelings through bows, kneeling and the already mentioned sign of the cross. And if it is enough to serve God only in the soul, then why did God give us a body as well? Not in vain in Holy Scripture It says: Glorify God in your body and in your soul, which are God's ().

Observing the already established tradition, for example, by visiting the temple in the proper clothes, we express our respect for the temple and for those who consecrated this tradition with their pious lives. These rites were observed not only by holy ascetics, but also by kings, and famous public figures, and great scientists - let us follow them.

One familiar priest in the subway once met with followers of the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses - a guy and a girl. The guy immediately began to prove that all our rituals are external and unnecessary, that the main thing is that faith be in the soul. The priest listened attentively, and then sincerely asked: “Is this your girlfriend? Perhaps you love each other? Maybe you will become one family? When they nodded approvingly, the priest turned to the girl: “If he gives you flowers and shows signs of attention, then do not attach any importance to this - this is all external; and if he tries to be courteous in his communication with you, then also do not pay attention, because this is external; and if he, preparing for a meeting with you, watches his appearance, tries to look worthy, then this is also external and unnecessary, and most importantly, so that there is love only in the heart. Deep bewilderment and even a slight insight were now visible on the faces of young people. The guy did not find what to answer, and who knows, maybe in the depths of his soul now he realized his mistake. And we will note again: in human nature, the soul is closely connected with the body, so that even exclusively spiritual feelings - faith, reverence, repentance, worship of God and others are expressed outwardly through visible rites, signs and actions.

Priest Valery Dukhanin

From the book. "What We Believe" - M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2015

What should be our participation in church ceremonies

Ritual forms are given their sacred meaning by prayer. Only through prayer does an action become a sacrament, and a number of external processes become a rite. Not only the priest, but also each of those present must contribute to the performance of the ceremony - their faith and their prayer.

Grace, help, various gifts God gives, gives exclusively by His mercy. But “just as the source does not forbid those who wish to draw, so the treasure of grace does not forbid any of the people to be partakers of it” (rev.). We cannot “force” God to send down what we need with the help of some magical actions, but we can ask Him with faith. The Holy Scriptures about the need for faith for prayer says: “Let him ask in faith, not at all doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, lifted and tossed by the wind. Let such a person not think to receive anything from the Lord ”(). When we pray to the Lord, we need to believe that the Lord is omnipotent, that He can create or grant what we ask for. To believe that He loves us, that He is merciful and good, that is, He wants the best for everyone. It is with such faith that we must pray, that is, turn our mind and heart towards God. And then, if during the performance of the ceremony we not only stand next to the priest, but also pray heartily with faith, then we will be able to receive sanctifying grace from the Lord.

What is the meaning of consecration

Orthodox Christians call sanctification the rites that the Church introduces into the temple and personal life of a person, so that through these rites God's blessing descends on his life, on all his activities and all around him. At the heart of the diverse church prayers is the desire to spiritualize human activity, to perform it with God's help and with His blessing. We ask the Lord to direct our affairs in such a way that they are pleasing to Him and benefit our neighbors, the Church, the Fatherland and ourselves; bless our relationships with people so that peace and love prevail in them. And so we ask that our house, things that belong to us, vegetables grown in our garden, water from the well, through the blessing of God descended on them, help us in this, protect, strengthen our strength. The consecration of a house, apartment, car or any other thing is evidence, first of all, of our hope in God, our faith that nothing happens to us without His holy will.

Everything you need for human life sanctifies with prayer and blessing. The Church sanctifies all nature and all the elements: water, air, fire and earth.

Rite is the outward expression of a person's beliefs. Man is a sensuous-spiritual being, in the nature of which the spiritual-ideal being is united with the sensual and material. And as a consequence, in his imagination, a person tries to clothe the ideal in the visible, in order to make it accessible to himself through this. The subject of man's religious beliefs, that is, God, is supremely spiritual and infinitely exalted above visible nature; therefore man is incapable of picturing this object to himself, nor of entering into a living relationship with it without some visible medium. This is how the rite serves.

The rite everywhere and always served for man as a symbol and evidence of the reality of the presence and influence of God on man. The Orthodox Church believes that every rite performed in his name has a sanctifying, renewing and strengthening effect on a person.

In the New Testament books of Holy Scripture, the Greek words έυος, υρησκεια - rite, έυος, είυιςμένον - the custom is designated as something that concerns the external side of religious life - the orders of hierarchical administration (Luke I, 9), the rules of church deanery (1 Cor. XI, 16) , religious ceremonies (John XIX, 40), a rite that has symbolic meaning(Luke 11, 27; Acts Apostle XV, 1), outward piety (James I, 26), and what relates to the orders of civil life - popular desire (John XVIII, 39), judicial rule ( Acts Apostle XXV, 16). In the first sense, usually church language and the words “rite”, “custom” are used, i.e., the name of the rite in the broad sense of the word refers to everything that relates to the external side of religious life: liturgical rites and statutes, objects and actions that have a symbolic meaning.

The Slavic word "rite" in itself means "attire", "clothes" (the verb "dress up"). Beauty, solemnity, variety of church rituals attract many people. But the Orthodox Church, in the words of St. John of Kronstadt, does not occupy anyone and does not engage in idle spectacles. Visible actions have an invisible, but completely real and effective content. The Church believes (and this belief has been confirmed by two thousand years of experience) that all the rites she performs have a certain sanctifying, that is, beneficial, renewing and strengthening effect on a person. This is an act of God's grace.

Conventionally, all rituals are divided into three types:

1. Liturgical rites - sacred rites performed during church services: anointing with oil, the great blessing of water, the removal of the holy shroud on Good Friday, and so on. These rites are part of the temple, liturgical life of the Church.

2. Symbolic rites express various religious ideas of the Church. These, for example, include the sign of the cross, which we repeatedly perform in remembrance of the sufferings of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and which, at the same time, is a real protection of a person from the influence of evil demonic forces and temptations on him.

3. Rites that sanctify the everyday needs of Christians: commemoration of the dead, the consecration of dwellings, products, things and various good undertakings: study, fasting, travel, construction, and the like.

"The rite (taken by itself),- says the priest Pavel Florensky, - there is a realized focus on God, who has come in the flesh, of our whole life.

In such phenomena of life as the great consecration of water on the eve and the very feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Epiphany, the small consecration of water, monastic tonsure, the consecration of the temple and its accessories, the consecration of the house, the consecration of fruits and things - in all this and many other things, the Holy Church sees the same mystery of life: God gives man the holy content of life by his approach to him, “by entering, as if into the house of Zacchaeus” (from a prayer for the consecration of the house).

These rites, existing independently, are also manifestations of the mystery of salvation, where the Divine and the human are united into one. As a result, the human, which was in itself, is included in the process of saving people by the Son of God, and the holiness coming from God is introduced into the human.

The rites are introduced into the temple and personal life of a Christian so that through them the blessing of God descends on the life and activity of a person, strengthening his spiritual forces, as well as the entire environment of his life, with holiness and goodness.

Little is said about rituals in Scripture. The order, the order of external worship, neither Christ nor His apostles established. Church rites developed along with the development of the church itself, and she then reduced or supplemented them, or replaced them with new ones. Such an attitude of the Church to the rites clearly indicates that she considered herself entitled to change, cancel and introduce new rites, while maintaining her faith unchanged. Even the apostles expressed their view of the rites in this sense, when at the Jerusalem Council they decided not to follow the Old Testament rite of circumcision and in general not to burden Christians from the Gentiles with the fulfillment of the Law of Moses. This decision of the apostles served as a firm foundation for the practice of the church in later times. So, for example, according to the first rule of the apostles Peter and Paul, it was necessary to do 5 days, and celebrate Saturday and Sunday; The Council of Laodicea, in Canon 29, abolished the rule of the apostles and decreed that only Sunday should be celebrated. The order of the liturgy in the first centuries of Christianity was performed differently: in the church of Jerusalem, the liturgy was celebrated according to the tradition from the Apostle James; in Caesarea, this liturgy, as very long, Basil the Great significantly reduced. The Liturgy of Basil the Great, for the relief of the laity, in turn, was shortened by John Chrysostom. Over time, the rite of the liturgy was reduced in terms of the composition of prayers and increased by some prayers, chants and rites that life itself demanded. Thus, the songs “Cherubic” and “Only Begotten Son” appeared and were included in the liturgy later (VI century). Some liturgical rites are completely out of church practice. In the rites of the Church the truth and the spirit of faith are expressed in a graphic way. So, for example, the rite of folding the fingers for the sign of the cross figuratively represents the unity of God in essence and the trinity in persons. Truths and events presented under the guise of actions become understandable even for people who live not so much with the mind as with feeling. To deprive such people of that which attracts them outwardly would be to deprive them of one of the sources of religious life.

Teacher: How do you understand the epigraph? How can it be related to the topic of the lesson?

Pupils: Prayers, prostrations are the rites and customs of our church. These are the sacred actions of Orthodox Christians in the form of asking God for mercy and blessings.

Teacher: What rituals do you know?

Pupils: The main ritual actions of the Russian Orthodox Church include: prayers, the consecration of the home, the consecration of bread, eggs, Easter cakes, religious processions, etc.

Teacher: The rite is any external sign of reverence, expressing a prayer - this is the sign of the cross and bows, as well as the lighting of a church candle and lamp.

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- Let's write down in a notebook the definition of the rite and the forms of the rites.

rite- this is a set of actions in which some religious ideas are embodied (Ozhegov's dictionary).

Forms of rites:

1. Any church service(for example, the blessing of water)
2. Sacrament (the sacrament of marriage is performed in the wedding ceremony)
3. Prayers (they are accompanied by the sign of the cross, kneeling)

sign of the cross

The word "sign" emphasize that the stress falls on the first syllable) means "sign". Thus, the sign of the cross is a sign of the cross, its image. Christians make the sign of the cross, asking for help and protection from God, to testify to their faith in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, His resurrection.

In our time, it is customary to make the Sign of the Cross in the following sequence:

According to Orthodox teaching, the power of the sign of the cross, like prayer, calls on God and protects from the influence of demonic forces. In addition, it is known from the biographies of the saints that sometimes the sign of the cross was enough to dispel demonic spells and perform a miracle.

Until the 5th century, the sign of the cross was made with one finger, most likely the index finger. The imposition of a full sign of the cross (forehead - stomach - shoulders) was first mentioned in Georgian sources - in the "Life of the Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina". The sign of the cross with the help of two fingers began to be used after the 5th century. This method was adopted in order to emphasize the unity of the divine and human nature of Christ. By the way a person is baptized, one can determine what religion he is. At the last lesson, an individual task was proposed: “Using two-finger”.

The student tells the prepared material.

Teacher: When is it necessary to be baptized?

1. At the beginning, end and during prayer.
2. When approaching a particular shrine.
3. At the entrance to the temple and exit from it.
4. Before kissing a cross or an icon.

In all significant cases of life (danger, trial, joy, grief, work, etc.)

bows

Teacher: After the sign of the cross, Orthodox Christians bow. What do you think bows mean?

Pupils: In Orthodoxy, bows mean the humility of a person, the consciousness of one's sinfulness and the rendering of honor to the Majesty of God.

Teacher: The church charter requires Orthodox Christians to bow in the temple slowly and when necessary. There are two types of bows: waist and earth.

Belt prostrations are performed:

1. At the end of the prayers
2. When pronouncing the name of the Lord or the Virgin
3. With three hallelujahs

Earthly bows

In order to know how to behave in the temple, one should not try to “learn” all the provisions of church life: one should simply go to the temple more often, and when going to it, think about meeting with God, and not about how they will react to the actions of the “newbie”. ".

The custom of lighting a candle

What does the first person who crossed the threshold of the temple do? Nine times out of ten, it goes to the candle box. Light candles in front of sacred objects - ancient custom. The custom of putting candles in churches came to Russia from Greece.

In the first centuries of Christianity, candles were always lit during worship. On the one hand, it was a necessity: Christians, persecuted by pagans, retired to the dungeons and catacombs for worship, and besides, worship services most often took place at night. But for another, and main, reason, illumination had a spiritual significance. Lamps, candles were used to portray Christ - the Uncreated Light, without which we would wander in darkness even in the middle of the day.

When the persecution of the church ceased, the custom of lighting candles remained. Before the icons of saints, the tombs of martyrs, it is customary to light candles and lamps, as before shrines.

Russian-Byzantine churches had very narrow windows that created twilight, dusk even in the most sunny light. This symbolized earthly human life, immersed in the twilight of sin, but in which the light of faith shines.

Teacher: Where do they put the candles?

Pupils: Candles are placed in the cells of candlesticks, melting the bottom edge for stability.

Teacher: How many candles are placed?

Pupils: A church candle is a visible sign of ardent love. If they are not in the soul of a person, the candle as a sign does not express anything. The quantity doesn't matter.

Teacher: When are the candles put on?

Pupils: During non-liturgical hours and before the start of the service.

Teacher: Wax in ancient times was an offering of believers to the temple as a voluntary sacrifice. Pure wax means the purity of the people carrying it. Wax is brought as a sign of our repentance and readiness for obedience to God, like the softness and suppleness of wax.

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Consecration of water

Orthodox Christians have a custom to consume bread and water consecrated in the church. Almost every believer keeps a bottle of holy water and prosphora.

The consecration of water is accepted by the Church from the apostles and their successors. When Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan, the element of water was sanctified and became a source of sanctification for man. From here originates the Christian tradition to bless the water in the church. It is believed that such water receives the grace-filled power to sanctify, heal, protect and protect from evil.

Consecrated water can be stored for many years, remaining fresh. There is a known case when the Monk Ambrose of Optina sent a bottle of holy water to a terminally ill person and he was healed.

Teacher: When is holy water used?

Disciples: 1. In the sacrament of baptism for immersion in the font. 2. During the consecration of churches, residential buildings, buildings. 3. For the sprinkling of believers at prayer services and during religious processions. 4. For distribution to believers.

Teacher: It should be remembered that, according to the teachings of the Church, the miraculous properties of water are revealed only to sincere believers.

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Consecration of bread

There has always been a special relationship with bread. It was bread that Jesus Christ used, saying: “Eat, this is My body,” when he first performed the main sacrament for Christians - communion.

Teacher: What is the name of the communion bread?

Students: Prosphora.

Teacher: (stress falls on the last syllable)- this is the name of the bread that was brought for the liturgy. It consisted of two parts, which symbolized the bread of the earth and the bread of heaven. Each part of the prosphora is made one from the other, and only then they are joined together. A seal is placed on the upper part, depicting a four-pointed equilateral cross with inscriptions above the crossbar of the cross IC and XC (Jesus Christ), under the crossbar NIKA (Victory).

The lower part of the prosphora corresponds to the earthly composition of a person, the upper part with a seal corresponds to the spiritual principle in a person.

The prosphora is made round as a sign of the eternity of Christ, as a sign that man was created for eternal life. Prosphora can be received at the candle box after the liturgy by submitting a note of health or repose before the start of the service. Prosphora is sacred and is eaten with holy water on an empty stomach.

We propose to recall the rite of consecration of Easter cakes and eggs. The children share their experiences.

I would like to remind you that consecrated eggs cannot be thrown away, they must either be eaten, or, like spoiled prosphora, taken to church or burned.

So, today we got acquainted with the main customs and rituals of the Orthodox Church: the sign of the cross, bows, the custom of putting a candle, the blessing of water and bread.

The funeral of a person is a rite of burial of the deceased, symbolizing farewell and the end of earthly life and the beginning of a new, eternal one. The entire funeral ritual among the Slavs has both Christian and pagan roots, closely intertwined and no longer separable due to centuries-old foundations.

Orthodox funerals in Russia, perhaps, most fully combined pre-Christian burial traditions and religious rules and burial procedures, traditions after the funeral.

This is due to the relative tolerance of Orthodoxy towards pagan survivals, the presence of many social and historical features in various parts of the country.

Tradition, burial of the deceased in every culture and religion is accompanied by a certain ceremony and rituals. The mysterious and mystical transition from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead is beyond the scope of human understanding, so people, depending on the religious worldview, historical and cultural features, have developed a whole system of rules and traditions for funerals. They should help the deceased to get used to the new world - after all, the vast majority of religions and beliefs proceed from the fact that death means only the end of the earthly period of existence.

The ritual ceremony is performed primarily to help the deceased, although at present many mistakenly consider the observed customs of burial and commemoration as a desire to support loved ones and relatives, share the bitterness of loss with them, and show a sense of respect for the deceased.

stages of the funeral Orthodox traditions at a funeral in Russia, they include the following main events and rituals, which together represent a sequential burial procedure;

• preparation;
• wires;
• funeral service;
• burial;
• remembrance.

Everyone has to bury loved ones. It is important to observe the funeral ritual. Russian Orthodox traditions have long been established (including those not currently used or used in remote areas by the Orthodox). There is a mandatory minimum that a person involved in the burial procedure needs to know.

An Orthodox person should know the minimum necessary for the proper construction of a funeral.

Such information is especially important for believers. Many people come to God in adulthood and do not know some of the customs, attaching importance to superstitions that are not related to religion and, thereby, not helping the soul of the deceased to enter the afterlife. For non-believers, the observance of traditions is important out of a sense of respect for the deceased and those who gathered to see him off.

Preparation for burial

Preparation is the pre-burial stage of the funeral, which includes several component ritual events. When preparing the body for burial, some pagan customs are also observed. Death in Christianity is seen as the beginning of the road to new life, so the deceased must be prepared and collected for the road. The preparation of the body of the deceased for the unearthly path has both a religious and mystical content, and a sanitary and hygienic component.

body washing

The deceased must appear before the Creator clean both spiritually and bodily.

The mystical component of the rite is that the body was to be washed by certain people - the washers.

They could not be closely related to the deceased, so that tears would not fall on the body. Mourning for the deceased is not compatible with the Christian understanding of death as a transition to eternal life and a meeting with God. There is a belief that a mother's tear burns a dead child. The washers were chosen from among the old virgins and widows who are clean and do not commit bodily sins. For work, linen and clothes of the deceased relied as a reward.

The body was washed on the floor at the threshold of the house, the deceased was located with his feet to the stove. used warm water, comb and soap. It was believed that otherworldly dead forces pass to the things used when washing, so it was necessary to get rid of them as soon as possible. Pots containing water for washing, combs, soap residues were thrown into the ravine, carried out to the crossroads, beyond the field. The used water was considered dead and poured out in the far corner of the yard, where people did not go and nothing landed.

All these traditions are a reflection of the mystical component of the pagan understanding of death and fear of the other world.

Compliance with such rituals was necessary so that the dead would not come from the other world and take their loved ones with them. The Christian meaning lies in the need to purify before God not only spiritual, but also bodily. Modern washing in the morgue has a purely sanitary and hygienic content.

Deceased's vestments

Now it is traditional to dress the deceased man in a dark suit and white shirt, women in light colors. However, in the era of Ancient Russia and the Middle Ages, everyone was buried in white. This tradition combined both Christian ideas about the purity of the soul and the traditional white robes adopted in Russia.

Traditionally, the deceased is dressed in white.

Chosen for burial best clothes of the deceased, special funeral sets or new suits and dresses are often purchased, which also symbolizes the purity of a person before God. Feet are shod in white slippers without hard soles - a familiar symbol of funeral accessories. It is forbidden to use clothes of relatives or other people. The head of women is covered with a scarf, which is combined with Christian and cultural traditions, a wreath is put on a man with a prayer.

Separate traditions are observed in relation to deceased young girls and boys who did not have time to marry.

The death of a young person is always an exceptional event. Premature death at the most active age causes particular regret and sadness. Unmarried girls, both in the old days and now, are buried in white, and often in wedding dresses, put a veil in the coffin. The funeral of the bride may be accompanied by some wedding customs - drinking champagne, singing wedding songs.

For dead young people who did not have time to marry, they put on the ring finger of their right hand wedding rings. The dressing of young people takes place in the same way as in preparation for the wedding ceremony. Similar traditions exist not only in the Orthodox world.

Position in the coffin

After washing and dressing, the deceased is placed on a bench facing the icons, spreading straw or something soft. Silence must be observed in the house, telephones, audio-video equipment must be turned off. Mirrors, glass surfaces other than windows (cabinet and sideboard doors, interior doors etc.) must be covered with white paper or cloth, photographs and paintings removed or hung up.

The coffin (the obsolete name domina - from the word "house") is considered as the last earthly refuge of a person. This element is given much attention in the funeral procedure.

In ancient times, coffins could be made whole from a tree trunk. In its usual form, this ritual object is made of boards, modern materials(chipboard, plastic, etc.), metals can only be used for decoration and decoration (with the exception of zinc coffins in certain cases). For the manufacture of any type of wood except aspen can be used. Inside the coffin is lined with soft material. Expensive coffins can be polished, trimmed with valuable materials and upholstered in a soft finish. The body is placed on a white cover - a sheet or cloth. A small pillow is placed under the head. The prepared coffin can be regarded as an imitation of a bed, the deceased is laid down in such a way that it is “comfortable”. Sometimes women during their lifetime prepare a pillow for themselves in the coffin, stuffed with their own hair.

The coffin in the Christian tradition is an imitation of a bed

The baptized are buried with pectoral cross. An icon is placed in the coffin, a chaplet on the forehead and “manuscript” - a written or printed prayer that absolves sins. It is put into the right hand of the deceased, A candle is placed on the chest in crossed arms. The deceased can put things that he constantly used or especially valued during his lifetime. It has become common to be buried with cell phones.

Previously, mittens were worn to transfer the body to the coffin, the house was constantly fumigated with incense. Until the removal of the coffin, you can not throw garbage out of the house - this custom is observed in our time.

Seeing the deceased

Seeing off the deceased is also a symbiosis of Orthodox rites, mystical beliefs and traditions and takes place in several stages. Currently, modern traditions are closely intertwined with established old customs, which include:

• the establishment of a portrait and awards of the deceased at the coffin, their demonstration in the funeral procession;
• farewell speeches;
• placement of photographs on grave monuments and crosses;
• funeral music, singing, fireworks;
• condolences through the media, etc.

Farewell to the deceased

The coffin is placed in the room on a table covered with cloth, or on stools with their feet towards the door. The cover is located vertically with a narrow part to the floor in the corridor, often on the landing. For 3 days, the coffin with the body of the deceased must remain in the house.

Relatives, friends, acquaintances and neighbors come to visit the deceased. The doors don't close. At night, relatives and friends should gather around the coffin - to say goodbye to the deceased, to remember his worldly life, the events in which the deceased was a participant.

Previously, relatives or specially invited persons (not necessarily priests) read the psalter over the coffin without fail. Now the observance of this tradition is at the discretion of the next of kin. Above the deceased one should read the canon “Following the Exodus of the Soul from the Body”.

If there are images in the house, it is necessary to put a glass of water in front of them, covered with a piece of bread. Water and bread can be placed on the windowsill. It is believed that the soul of the deceased does not immediately leave the earth. The food and drink on display can reflect both pagan sacrifice to the spirit of the deceased, and Christian ideas about the stay of the soul on earth after death for 40 days - a vivid example of the interweaving of pagan and Christian rites. At the head of the coffin, on a table or other elevation, a candle is lit, and a lamp should be lit in front of the images. Candles can be installed in the corners of the domino.

A portrait with a black ribbon is set at the head of the coffin, awards are placed on a pillow at the feet. Wreaths are lined up along the walls of the room, a wreath from relatives is placed at the feet between the coffin and the pillow with awards. People who come to say goodbye usually do not take off their shoes. It is required to stand or sit near the coffin for a while, for a long time or during the night only relatives gather at the deceased. Chairs or benches should be placed along the coffin in the room with the deceased. Farewell is carried out until the removal of the body.

At present, the tradition of a three-day farewell is not observed in megacities and major cities but in small towns and countryside preserved everywhere.

Compliance with the three-day farewell is at the discretion of the relatives and depends on the actual circumstances in which the burial takes place.

Often the body for burial is taken from the mortuary already prepared, the procession immediately goes to the church or to the cemetery. The clergy do not insist on the exact observance of all this does not affect.

Removal of the body and funeral procession

The removal of the body is appointed no earlier than 12 - 13 hours and with the expectation that the burial occurs before sunset. Usually they try to carry out the removal before 14 - 00. They take out the deceased with their feet forward, without touching the threshold and door jambs, which should protect against the return of the dead. There is another special protective rite - replacing the place of the deceased. It is necessary to sit for some time on the table or stools on which the coffin was located, and then turn them upside down for a day.

Removal of the body begins at 12 - 13 hours

Before the removal, those who came to say goodbye and see off on their last journey line up along the route of the procession. Initially, wreaths, a portrait of the deceased, a pillow with orders and medals, and a coffin lid are taken out of the house. After 10-15 minutes, they take out the coffin and carry it to the hearse, relatives go out behind the coffin. In front of the hearse, the coffin is placed on stools for several minutes and left open to give the opportunity to say goodbye to those people who have not been at home and are not going to the funeral service and the cemetery.

In a hearse, the coffin is placed on a special pedestal with the head forward, wreaths are laid.

A specific custom during the removal is the mourning of the deceased, and more often non-relatives or close people mourn. Lamentations over the coffin and tears, according to tradition, should characterize the personality of the deceased. The better the relationship with others and respect from society, the more crying. In the old days, there were special mourners who were specially invited to the ceremony. Folklore has also preserved funeral lamentations - songs-lamentations that were sung in a hoarse howling voice.

The funeral procession from the door of the house to the hearse is built in the following order:

• orchestra;
• master of ceremonies;
• a man carrying a portrait;
• people carrying pillows with awards of the deceased;
• people with wreaths;
• people carrying a coffin lid;
• carrying the coffin;
• close relatives;
• others who say goodbye.

There was an interesting ritual of the first meeting, personifying the unity of earthly and unearthly life. The rite consisted in the fact that the first person met by the procession was given bread, which he wrapped in a towel. The gifted had to pray for the repose of the soul of the deceased. It was assumed that the deceased should be the first to meet in the other world the person who was presented with bread. Along the way, the procession with the coffin scattered grain for the birds. The presence of birds was considered a good sign, sometimes they were identified with the souls of the dead.

According to church canons, the funeral procession could only stop in the church and near the cemetery. Often, traffic slowed down or stopped when passing some places and objects memorable for the deceased or significant: near the house of a recently deceased neighbor or relative, at crossroads, at crosses, etc. As they passed through such places, some of the mourners could be weeded out.

This custom is to some extent combined with the traditions associated with the 40-day stay of the soul of the deceased on earth. During this period, the soul visits the most significant places for a person in earthly life.

The coffin is not allowed to be carried by the next of kin. Most often, porters are either specially invited people, or friends, colleagues and distant relatives. The ceremony of carrying the coffin is very different from the one that existed before. What remains in common is that the farther the coffin is carried on the hands, the more respected position the deceased occupied. On the way to the coffin, fresh flowers are scattered - carnations for the deceased man and roses for women and girls.

funeral service

The deceased is buried on the 3rd day after death, except for the days of Holy Pascha and the Nativity of Christ. The ceremony is performed only once, in contrast to memorial services, which can be served both before burial and repeatedly after. Only baptized people are allowed to perform the funeral service. Those who have renounced the faith or excommunicated from the church, suicides, cannot be reprimanded. In absolutely exceptional cases, the latter can be buried with the blessing of the bishop.

Suicides are not buried in church

To perform the ceremony, the coffin with the deceased is brought into the church and placed with his head to the altar. Those gathered are nearby, holding burning church candles. The priest proclaims the Eternal Memory and reads a prayer of permissiveness, with which the unfulfilled oaths lying on the deceased and the sins committed by him during his lifetime are released. Permissive prayer does not forgive sins that the deceased did not consciously want to repent of, only those recognized at confession or about which the deceased did not report due to ignorance or forgetfulness can be forgiven.

A sheet with the words of a prayer is put into the hands of the deceased.

At the end of the prayer, those gathered put out the candles and walk around the coffin, kiss the chaplet on the forehead and the icon on the chest, and ask for forgiveness from the deceased. After the farewell is over, the body is covered with a shroud. The coffin is closed with a lid, after the funeral it can no longer be opened. With the singing of the Trisagion, the deceased is carried out of the temple, the procession moves to the burial place. There is a procedure if it is not possible to deliver the deceased to the temple or invite the clergyman home.

burial

The burial must be completed before sunset. By the time the body is delivered to the burial site, the grave must be ready. If the burial is carried out without a funeral service, the coffin is closed at the dug grave, after giving the audience the opportunity to finally say goodbye to the deceased. Over the open coffin, the last speeches are made, the merits and good deeds of the deceased are remembered. The coffin is lowered into the grave on long towels. Those gathered take turns throwing a handful of earth on the lid of the coffin, the relatives are the first to pass. You can briefly pray to yourself with the words: God rest the soul of your newly-departed servant (name), and forgive him all his sins, free and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven. This prayer is also performed at a memorial dinner before a new dish.

May be accompanied by a number of customs and ritual actions:

1. Together with the coffin, church candles that burned in the temple during the funeral ceremony are lowered into the grave.
2. Small coins are thrown into the grave. This custom is interpreted as buying the dead a place in a cemetery from the "owner" of the underworld or a place in the next world, paying for passage to another world.
3. After instillation, a tear handkerchief is left on the grave.

These customs have pagan roots, but do not contradict Orthodox canons.

On the grave mound a temporary Orthodox cross or an obelisk, another sign with a photograph of the deceased, the name and dates of life. A permanent monument can be erected no earlier than on next year after burial. The grave is usually buried by working cemeteries - diggers. After the burial, the custom prescribes to treat the workers with traditional funeral dishes and vodka for the repose of the soul. Leftover food is scattered on the grave to attract birds.

The funeral of military personnel, participants in the war and hostilities, employees of law enforcement agencies is accompanied by a salute from small arms.

In the old days, there was an interesting ritual - hidden alms. For 40 days after the burial, relatives secretly laid out alms for poor neighbors on the windows and on the porch - bread, eggs, pancakes, pieces of canvas, etc. The gifted had to pray for the deceased, while it was believed that they took part of the sins to themselves. The distribution of alms is also associated with the customs of distributing tearful handkerchiefs, pies, and sweets. in some places, new wooden spoons were distributed so that the deceased was remembered every time they ate. Wealthy relatives could make large donations for a new bell (it was believed that the bell could rescue a sinful soul from hell). There was a custom to give a neighbor a rooster so that he would sing for the sins of the deceased.

Remembrance

The funeral ends with a memorial dinner, to which everyone is invited. The commemoration serves not only to remind the deceased, but also personifies the continuation of life. The memorial meal has certain features in the choice and sequence of dishes. The basis, the head of nutrition in Russian traditions was bread, flour products. Wake begins and ends with pancakes or pancakes with honey, kutya. Kutya, depending on local characteristics, is prepared from wheat grains boiled in honey, rice with sugar and raisins.

Meat soup or soup is served on the first course. For the second, porridge (barley, millet) or potatoes with meat are prepared. Separate appetizers can be served with fish, jelly. On fasting days, meat is replaced with fish and mushrooms. A sweet third is required. According to old traditions, the third should be oatmeal jelly, but nowadays it is replaced with compote. Separate snacks can be fried fish, jelly. At the wake, they are treated to vodka, women can be offered wine.

Mandatory attribute are pies with meat, cabbage, sweets. Pies are distributed to those present so that they treat them to their household.

Wakes are held on the 9th and 40th day. Day 9 means turning to 9 angelic ranks who act as those who ask God for condescension and pardon for a sinful soul. From the 9th day after the funeral to the 40th, the soul is doomed to wander through the ordeals, representing visits to various places where sins were committed. Angels must help the soul overcome sinful obstacles on the way to another world. The Creator does not initially assign the soul to either hell or heaven. Within 40 days, the deceased atones for his sins, an assessment of the deed good and evil is carried out. The wake is held in the form of a memorial meal. At the time of the commemoration, the house is cleaned in the same way as during the farewell to the deceased within 3 days after death.

Day 40 is the last day of the soul's stay in this world. On this day, the Supreme Court is held, the soul returns for a while to its former home and remains there until the farewell - commemoration. If the farewell is not arranged, the deceased will suffer. On the 40th day, further extraterrestrial life person. There is a custom for 40 days to hang a towel in the corner of the house. The soul, returning home after ordeals, wipes itself with a towel and rests.

Sweet pies are an obligatory dish of the funeral table

Prayer is able to alleviate the fate of a sinful soul in extraterrestrial life, so the relatives of the deceased order a funeral service (mass) in the church with the remembrance of the deceased for 6 weeks after death - magpie. Instead of Mass, you can order a reading of Magpie to a reader who reads the canon for 40 days in the house of the deceased. The names of the dead are recorded in the annual commemoration - synodic.

Mourning for the head of the family is observed for a longer time than for the elderly. Externally, mourning is expressed in wearing dark clothes.

Women wear a black headscarf for 40 days after the funeral. During the period of mourning, they often visit the deceased at the cemetery, go to church, refuse entertainment and celebrations. Longer periods of mourning characterize the severity of the loss. Mothers of dead children and young widows observe mourning for up to a year or more. With regard to deceased elderly parents, spouse in old age, mourning can be reduced to 6 weeks. Men adhere to the mourning form of clothing to participate in funeral rites; on other days, mourning is not outwardly expressed.

The article is aimed at revealing the special meaning of many church rites, sacred rites from the point of view of magic (the science of Magic) and is not anti-religious in nature, but only informs about the true mechanisms of what is happening in temples.

“One has only to read the breviary and follow those rites that are performed without ceasing by the Orthodox clergy and are considered Christian worship to see that all these rites are nothing but various tricks of witchcraft, adapted to all possible occasions in life. In order for the child, if he dies, to go to heaven, you need to have time to anoint him with oil and redeem him with the pronunciation of certain words; in order for the parent to cease to be unclean, it is necessary to utter certain spells; so that there is success in business or a peaceful life in a new house, so that bread is born well, the drought stops, so that the journey is safe, in order to be cured of an illness, in order to ease the situation of the deceased in the next world, for all this and a thousand other circumstances there are well-known incantations, which are pronounced by a priest in a certain place and for certain offerings. L.N. Tolstoy from a letter to the decision of the Synod to excommunicate him from the church on April 4, 1901.

Most of the rites that take place in the church are based on magic. It is important to understand this.
Take, for example, the rite of communion: a person is given a loaf of bread - the flesh of Christ and red wine - his blood. And it is not important that a person drinks and eats it. The important thing is that he consciously tunes in to eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood.
In Voodoo magic - the most feared of magics - this is the blackest rite: to eat the flesh of your defeated enemy and drink his blood to make his essence your slave forever.
In the rite of communion, the principle of identification is used. Identification means the transfer of astral-mental properties from one entity to another. That is, a person, identifying himself with Christ, takes on the properties of an already deceased person, thereby joining the world of the dead.
Baptism is a rite of blocking the development of a person's essence, a rite of connecting another donor to the egregor of the Orthodox Church.
This is a way to make a person blind so that he does not understand what is happening in his life and in the world around him.
What is baptism?
Let's turn to the brochure "On the sacrament of baptism", published by the Orthodox publishing house "Blagovest" in 2001 and analyze some points of this rite.

1. About sinfulness.
"... man is naturally born a sinner and guilty before the justice of God."
The main task of the church is to awaken a sense of guilt in a person, make him pray and repent, and keep him in fear.
If this succeeds, a person becomes a “servant of God” (remember: “A servant of God is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit ...”), a “slaughtered sheep” and joins the “flock” of Christ, and becomes ideologically controlled. To this is added energy dependence, which is placed on a person during the rite of baptism.

2. Baptism.

“If it is necessary to baptize a born baby, then the priest reads a special prayer over his mother on the fortieth day.”
From this, I think, it is already clear that in the rite of baptism there is a connection with the energy of death.

3. Confirmation.
With chrismation, a person receives the "gifts of the Holy Spirit". Otherwise, these gifts are called "seals of the gift of the Holy Spirit." These seals are placed crosswise on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, chest, arms and legs.
Thus, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th energy centers are closed, which are responsible for the inviolability of the will, clairvoyance, creativity and feelings of a person), the organs of perception of information are also blocked.
Miro, by the way, is also used to anoint the dead.
“In unction, as well as in chrismation, I see methods of gross witchcraft, as well as in the veneration of icons and relics, as well as in all those rites, prayers, spells with which the breviary is filled. In communion I see the deification of the flesh and the perversion of Christian teaching. In the priesthood, in addition to the obvious preparation for deceit, I see a direct violation of the words of Christ - directly forbidding anyone to be called teachers, fathers, mentors (Matt. XXIII, 8-10). L.N. Tolstoy, from a letter dated April 4, 1901.

4. Tongue.
Small strands are cut crosswise at the back of the head, near the forehead, on the right and left sides of the head. Then the hair is rolled into a piece of wax and thrown into the font.
In magic, this is called envolting to death!
With the help of this ritual, a person is completely attached to the Christian egregor, and at the same time to the egregor of magic.

5. Churching.
The priest reads a prayer: “Now release Thy servant, Master, according to Thy word in peace: as my eyes have seen Thy salvation, if Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, the light in the revelation of tongues, and the glory of Thy people Israel” - everything is clear, comments are redundant.
On the early stages the rite of baptism had no biblical basis.
Adolf Harnack, a well-known theologian, writes about this:
"It is impossible to directly prove that Jesus instituted baptism, since the words quoted by Matthew (28:19) are not the utterance of God."
It is also curious to note that baptism is performed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which was not in any of the early manuscripts.
Adolf Harnack points out that "this trinitarian formula is foreign to the mouth of Jesus and did not have the authority in the apostolic age that it should have if it came from Jesus himself."
Another point is the inconstancy of the sacrament of baptism in general Christian theology.
Baptism, as it is now understood, means that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, enters into a person and takes away his sins. If this is accepted, then it is not clear how, at a later stage in the life of the same person, Satan drives the Holy Spirit out of him and leads the person into sin by temptation.
The question arises: can the devil tempt a person who is filled and guarded by the Holy Spirit?
Thus, it is quite clear that baptism is not at all based on the teachings of Jesus.
And let's hear what eniologists say about the rite of baptism.
Anastasia NATALICH, eniocorrector, ENIO Research Center:
“It is believed that a baptized child is protected by divine power, while an unbaptized one is more vulnerable. The natural desire of parents - to protect their child from all sorts of troubles - obliges them to follow traditions. Everyone does it, so it's "correct".

Suddenly something happens, the thought immediately arises: “Maybe because he is not baptized, which means he is not protected?” You need to understand that best protection the child is the parents. That's how nature works.
Conflicts, misunderstandings, troubles between father and mother are reflected in the child.
As for the ceremony, then, firstly, to conduct it at an unconscious age is a violation of the will of a person.
Christ was baptized at the age of 33. A person must decide for himself whether he needs it or not.
Secondly, water is involved in the rite of baptism - a universal carrier of information that ideally preserves and structures information. What information church water carries is another question...
It is not uncommon for a person to be given a second name at baptism. During the correction, eniologists, as a rule, see exactly the second name of the child.
Another parallel channel opens in a person, which gives a serious energy load on fate. The same burden arises if a person is named after someone else.
If a child has two names, he begins to live as two streamers, and the passage of fate is a little more difficult.
Any rite introduces a person into an altered state of awareness. The same effects have hypnosis, meditation, breathing exercises, contemplation, defocusing of attention, prayer, etc.
But in an altered state of consciousness, a person cannot fully analyze what is happening and there is a very high probability of an alien influence on his consciousness, in other words, zombies.

6. Wedding.
A wedding is a ritual of a voluntary love spell - although almost all those who are married are not aware of this. Wedding rings carry a symbol of the partner's energy, reinforced by the will and energy of the Egregor of the Church and influencing the human biofield as a constant synchronizer of the energies of two people, uniting them and linking them for life. Strengthening of this ritual is carried out by a triple exchange of rings by the newlyweds. In the classics, the groom is given a gold ring, and the bride is given a silver one. This strengthens the subordination of the wife to her husband. Although this tradition is becoming less known. Since ancient times, a long train of a wedding dress has been recommended for the bride - there is a sign that the longer it is, the longer the young people live. But from an esoteric point of view, a long train is the grounding of the bride and binding to the elements of the earth. Dressing (symbolically holding over the head) crowns (wreaths) - enhances the influence of the Church (her Egregore) on those who are married, fixing the love spell on behalf of the Church and its Power. There is a cutting off of energies along the sahasrara chakra and the imposition of a block by the Egregor of the church. At the same time, there is a selection of energy into the Egregor of the Church - actually reducing the life time of those who are married. To this same consolidation of the union, the Church is called upon to circumambulate the lectern three times. A kind of magical closure of the circle of ritual.

7. Confession.
“In the periodic forgiveness of sins at confession, I see a harmful deception that only encourages immorality and destroys the fear of sinning.” From a letter to L.N. Tolstoy April 04, 1901
In confession, there is a psychotherapeutic option for relieving a person of his negative attitude towards his actions. The Church, through the priest, “absolves” sins before God, “cleansing” the luggage of a person. This is done through a prayer of absolution, a ritual of purification from Magic, while building a connection with the Supreme, God, before whom there is purification, but without the energy component of the ritual, without burning the negative and working with the past, modeling the present and future. This is a ritual in a truncated form, adapted to the modern canonical activity of the Church. But this is a ritual.
It will not be a secret that magic and the church have common features. The main task of both parties is the spiritual growth of the public. There is more than enough in common between the church and magic. Take at least the representatives of both. The ministers of the church, as well as shamans, sorcerers and healers, are trying to achieve communication with a higher power than themselves, they also create vibrations, which is what future generations teach.

Rituals will not be an exception, because during magical rites a spell is read, which, in essence, is very similar to church prayer. That is, a person turns to something higher. The true representative of the church, like the true magician, has only one goal - they must help people and maintain universal harmony.

This church is considered one of the most esoteric in the city (Turin is considered the city of magic - together with Lyon and Prague, it forms a triangle of white magic. In addition, Turin is the top of the "Triangle of Black Magic", the sides of which stretch to London and San Francisco). In front of the church there are 2 sculptures - Statua della Fede and Statua della Religione. The statue of Faith holds in her left hand a chalice associated with the Grail. This relic is said to be hidden somewhere in Turin, and the gaze of the statue indicates the direction in which to look for it.

Over the centuries, kingdoms, governments, laws, generations have changed, but the church and magic have been going side by side for many centuries, unchanged. Unfortunately, not all magicians and not all priests strive to give good to people and help evolution. The fact is that there are also such representatives of these two representatives of the highest image, who only hide behind a name, but basically they do it for their own benefit. But I hasten to please that not everyone is like that, there are actually the right people who are able to give light to the world and devote their lives to this.

But the former can basically only criticize both the church and magical powers, including psychics, love spells, and so on. In such cases, a person often asks the question, they say, since the church is so holy, why then is it against magical powers and everything connected with it, why does the church repel magic when God’s commandment “do not judge” exists. Everything is extremely simple! The real church will not condemn either magic or anything else, since according to the word of God we are all brothers, and we are all equal, and we are all created in his likeness. And only representatives of the false church condemn magic.

V different sources can be found different interpretation the word "magic". You and I need to deal with this concept and then everything will fall into place and it will be clear why we have combined such two things - magic and Christianity - which have always been considered incompatible.
So, what do people used to call magic? We call magic what we cannot explain scientifically. Consider a simple example: casting treatment.
During this procedure, the healer changes his energy state by reading special prayers. He turns to the Higher Consciousness, to the Higher Mind and asks for help. So that through his hands God would help heal the sick. When contact with the Higher powers is established, they transmit several specific energy flows that protect the magician and heal the person. All this, of course, happens if the healer is literate and conscientious. It turns out that nothing supernatural happened - the magician, as a guide, helped you get the right energy. One could, of course, just pray (this is not prohibited by the church), but the result would have been long in coming, and one would have to pray more than once or twice. (I know a case when one mother prayed every day for her drinking son. After 15 (fifteen) years, he stopped drinking. Yes, it is possible and so, there will be no sin in this, maybe. all these 15 years of swearing and lamenting about the same booze, then fate will punish you for incontinence.) You don’t have to turn to magicians, then you need to influence the situation yourself deeper than just prayers.
Can you meekly endure everything and continue to pray? Then go ahead! You will definitely achieve results with strong and unwavering faith.
The healer, unfortunately or fortunately, does not have an extra 15 years, and there are a lot of people asking for help, so there are rituals that help speed up the result, bring the desired goal closer. This is the same as medical treatment: you are not just given pills, but injections are prescribed - intramuscular, intravenous, you are treated with current, ultrasound. And we are already used to it. Because the scientists explained that pills act in this way, and injections in a different way, and ultrasound has such and such capabilities. All this is called complex treatment. And so it is with the sorcerer!
Have you ever seen an ultrasound? Did they hold it in their hands? Of course, you see a pill and you know what it is made of, what it will treat, although you can hardly imagine the processes that will occur in your body as a result of chemical reactions. Now try to understand how ultrasound works and understand how energy flow works. The same! Nothing supernatural!
Let's take a look at Christianity from the point of view of magic. This religion, in its essence, fully meets the requirements of Nature. Without revealing the secrets of nature, Christianity sets its followers on the harmonious development of the soul, body, relations with the outside world: the commandments are aimed at spiritual development and on harmonious interaction with others, fasting is aimed at cleansing the physical body.
There is nothing in religion that harms human nature. Any religion preaches fasting at certain periods of the year, for a person this is good. From a physical point of view, the human body needs to unload sometimes.
In Christianity, there is a sign of the cross, imposed on the Orthodox. It is believed that it protects from evil spirits external and internal. Yes it is. But, from an energetic point of view, the sign of the cross regulates the biofield, restores it, after it, after the correct distribution of energy, health is restored. But the fact is that the existence of meridians running through the physical and energy body has long been known. Meridians permeate the body and pass through the fingers. It is by closing certain meridians and mixing the action of individual flows that we get a certain energy state by touching our fingers, folded in a special way.
In India, the addition of hands is called mudra. And these mudras heal people! We can get the same. During the imposition of the cross, there is an even distribution of energy. So what is this? This is the law of the universe. This natural process. And isn't this Magic of Nature? A person regularly makes passes over himself (in this case, the sign of the cross is meant) and is healed! It's a miracle!
It turns out that in magic there are answers to all questions. Magic is a phenomenon of nature, the universe. These are processes that take place in living and inanimate objects. We just used to call magic what scientists have not yet been able to sort out on the shelves. We call Magic everything that the Church calls this word.
To finally dot the i's, let's take examples from the Bible - there is no more sacred book.
The birth of Jesus Christ was predicted by the stars. Those. some knowledge in astrology already existed and it was not considered a sin to use them.
In addition, as we all know from the Bible, the stars are also created by God. So they influence us according to the understanding of God. No one denies that our Sun has a different activity that affects us. Everyone knows that loud events are sure to occur during eclipses. Children born on the day of the eclipse differ in character and fate from those born at the same time but in a different year. Other planets do the same. Again, not without the knowledge of God, because. It says, "Your will is in heaven as it is on earth."
Further, the Bible writes about the miraculous properties of water: "Everything that the unclean has touched, put in water until evening, and it will be clean again." And it's not talking about natural tangible dirt. Then about what? This means that the Bible still recognizes the presence of fluids, energy. And water really washes away not only dirt, but also alien and negative vibrations. These are the properties of water. This is recognized in the Bible and is not denied by sorcerers, but moreover, it is always used for the benefit of man.

Church and magic so often go hand in hand with each other, as often go apart. Magic itself is neutral. It is a collection of secret knowledge and techniques for their application. Man always has the right to choose. This right was given to him from above. He must decide for himself to use the help of magic in difficult times, or to act on his own. Magic can bring both good and evil, it all depends on the person who uses it. Magic is magic, it is a way to achieve harmony and happiness with the help of external forces. We also go to church to ask for a miracle, we are waiting for magic. Is it not a miracle that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and they spoke in all the languages ​​of the world? Is it not a miracle that seriously ill people were cured from one of their touches in the name of God? Often priests are the main opponents of magic and extrasensory perception. But why? Is it not from God that psychics receive this gift - to heal people? Is it a sin to help others? The church opposes magic only because it is often used for selfish purposes, to the detriment of others. When, with the help of magic, a person wants to deprive another person of his will, he affects his psyche and feelings, sends damage and curses. If a person uses magic for good purposes, for treating people, removing negativity, etc., then I think he does not commit a sin. If the priest claims that any psychic will be rejected by the church, I do not believe in it. I believe that God judges people according to their deeds, and if a person helped people get rid of the disease, then how can the church reject him? It is important that a person has a soul, whether he is a psychic, a magician or a simple person. In one of the gospels banned by the church, the following words are said: “The Kingdom of God is within you, and all around you! Not in buildings made of stone and wood…” Therefore, it is important that inside the psychic, the priest, and whether he performs his actions in the name of God or…

“About Christ, who drove the bulls, sheep and sellers out of the temple, they should have said that he blasphemes. If he came now and saw what is being done in his name in the church, then with even greater and more legitimate anger he would probably throw away all these terrible antimensions, and spears, and crosses, and bowls, and candles, and icons, and all that. by means of which they, conjuring, hide God and his teaching from people. L.N. Tolstoy, from a letter dated April 4, 1901.